According to Google, Parkinson’s Law is the idea that work expands to fill the time allotted for its completion. This may mean you take longer than necessary to complete a task, or you delay acting and complete the task right before the due date. What Google doesn’t explain is how you may always want to kick yourself for taking so long in the first place, when you could have saved yourself the mental anguish that accompanies procrastination.

As it relates to financial planning, this law is important to be aware of, because many financial planning moves fall under the category of “important but not urgent.” In other words, there is no deadline, so you can waste years and mental energy needlessly procrastinating. 

Unlike the annual tax filing deadline that we have on April 15^th of each year (or October 15^th, if we extend), most financial deadlines are far into the future. For a newborn child, college is 18 years away. For a young adult in the workforce, retirement is a nebulous concept that is generally decades away. 

Even worse, some tasks are so difficult to think about or tackle, that they are never properly addressed. Estate planning often falls into this category. 

To the extent that you can identify some of these tasks and create a reward system for completion, the greater the odds you will accomplish the dreaded task and be able to move on to other important things. 

“If you want to get your house cleaned, throw a party.”

To this day, my favorite application of the power of Parkinson’s Law comes from my mother. She taught me that, “If you want to get your house cleaned, throw a party.” She didn’t know it at the time, but she was showing me how you can both have fun and be motivated to complete a burdensome task.

Let’s use this example of hosting a party for a detailed illustration of how to harness the power of Parkinson’s Law. Instead of scrambling the week before the event and being exhausted for the party itself, you could use Parkinson’s Law to motivate you to not only prepare for the party, but to complete several other needed tasks. 

Let’s assume that you have been wanting to get a few minor home renovations done, but there just never seems to be time to do them. You can simply tie together the goal of completing the home renovations to timing the party. So, let’s assume your party will take place three months from now. You can start now by making a list of the home renovation projects you want to complete that can all reasonably be done before the party. For example:

• Touch up painting
• Purchase a new couch
• Carpets cleaned 
• Hang new drapes
• Doorbell repaired….

There could be 20 items on your list, but you get the idea. The big thing to be aware of is to build margin in your plans because things will happen to interfere with your timeline. To the extent that you build in some margin and anticipate delays, you can work with Parkinson’s Law instead of being a victim of it. You can experience the joy and benefits of (finally) getting things done. 

Knowing about Parkinson’s Law is helpful because you can harness its power instead of just letting things happen. It will help you accomplish goals faster and with less stress. 

Here are some key points:

• Determine an objective with a deadline. (If there is no deadline, make one up or tie it to a birthday or holiday.)
• Motivate yourself with an appropriate reward 
• Create a specific list of action steps 

For more onerous projects, such as completing an estate plan or preparing your taxes, the secret is to tie these in with a fun reward. As a reward for implementing your estate plan, you can decide to start making travel arrangements for a lengthy vacation. The only timeframe you specify is, “We will sign the documents before leaving on our trip.”

Another illustration would be, instead of waiting until October 15^th (the extended tax return filing deadline) to get your tax preparation materials to your tax preparer, you could set yourself a deadline for August 15^th. Then, after delivering the final documents, you plan a mini-weekend getaway. The reward: you will be able to enjoy the final weeks of summer without this weighty task hanging over your head.

Like the Law of Gravity (a natural law with which we are all familiar), Parkinson’s Law can be used to your benefit or to your detriment. If you take advantage of it, it is another practical tool to help you accomplish your financial planning goals.

Kristina Bolhouse, CPA/PFS, CFP®

Vice President/Shareholder

© 2023 Kristina Bolhouse and The Arkansas Financial Group, Inc., All rights reserved.

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